Disposable ink container with means for expelling the ink therefrom

ABSTRACT

A disposable ink container arranged to be mounted in the ink fountain of a duplicating machine and having ink outlets in its wall that will lie adjacent the first inking roller of the machine, and a flexible lip on the container which is adjustable relatively to such roller to define an ink metering gap therewith. The container may incorporate its own disposable inking roller to replace the first roller of the machine. A device for mounting such container on a duplicating machine is also disclosed, provided with a spring-urged pusher for pressurizing the ink in the container to expel it on to the inking roller.

United States Patent [72] Inventors Henry A. Branfield [54] DISPOSABLE INK CONTAINER WITH MEANS FOR EXPELLING THE INK THEREFROM 24 Claims, 13 Drawing Figs.

[52] 0.8. Cl 101/350, 101/365,101/366;222/327, 222/340;401/176 [51] Int. Cl B41f31/08 [50] Field ofSearch 101/335,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 346,981 8/1886 Bingham 184/45(A) 477,422 6/1892 Ke11om....

2,143,885 1/1939 Kline 101/366 2,165,812 7/1939 Pfleger 401/208 2,998,767 9/1961 Vandercook et a1 101/366X 3,070,825 1/1963 Martin 401/208X 3,094,924 6/1963 Stark 101/210 3,220,616 11/1965 Jennings. 222/327 3,263,265 8/1966 Judson 401/208X 3,316,839 5/1967 Lake 101/366X 3,354,823 11/1967 Lake 101/366X FOREIGN PATENTS 906,058 3/1954 Germany 401/208 954,510 4/1964 Great Britain 101/366 Primary Examiner- Robert E. Pulfrey Assistant Examiner-J. Reed Fisher Attorney-McDougall, Hersh, Scott & Ladd ABSTRACT: A disposable ink container arranged to be mounted in the ink fountain of a duplicating machine and having ink outlets in its wall that will lie adjacent the first inking roller of the machine, and a flexible lip on the container which is adjustable relatively to such roller to define an ink metering gap therewith. The container may incorporate its own disposable inking roller to replace the first roller of the machine. A device for mounting such container on a duplicating machine is also disclosed, provided with a spring-urged pusher for pressurizing the ink in the container to expel it on to the inking roller.

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PATENIED'FEB 9m v 3.561.360

271M 44 M, xmswzw Arr PATENTEU FEB 9 is SHEET 2 OF 5 PATENTED FEB 919w SHEET t 0F 5 DISPOSABLE INK CONTAINER WITH MEANS FOR EXPELLING THE INK TI'IEREFROM This invention relates to printing and duplicating machines of the kind in which the supply of printing ink is to a narrow gap defined between the surface of the first of a plurality of inking rollers of the machine and an ink metering blade whose edge lies along the roller surface; in operation ink is metered through such gap on to the roller surface and thence transmitted to its eventual pointof application to the printed or duplicated sheet to be produced. Such machines are those hereinafter referred to as being of thekind described. Typical examples of machines of the kind described are offset duplicating machines and some types of letterpress printing machines.

Up to now the printing ink, which is often very viscous, has been supplied to the ink metering gap of machines of the kind described by forming a pool of ink in the elongate troughlike space defined between the surface of the said first inking roller and the adjacent face of the metering blade, which space is known as the ink fountain" of the machine and will hereinafter be referred to as such. Adjusting screws are usually associated with the said metering blade whereby the position of its edge relative to the surface of the first inking roller, and thus the width of the ink metering gap at various points in the length thereof, may be adjusted as desired so as to control the quantity of ink supplied to such inking roller.

Continued exposure causes printing inks to dry up or become contaminated and as a result, if the machine is to continue to operate efficiently, the said ink fountain should be cleansed of ink at the end of each days use. Cleaning of subsequent inking rollers downstream of the one already mentioned need not, on the other hand, be carried out as frequently as they only carry a thin filmof ink; indeed, if slowdrying ink is used and the machine is in frequent use, such rollers need be cleansed only at long intervals or when the ink becomes contaminated. Nevertheless, daily removal of what remains of the supply of ink from'the ink fountain is a timeconsuming and unpleasant task and it is the primary object of the present invention to provide means whereby it may be avoided.

The basic concept of the present invention lies in the provision of the supply of printing ink for a machine of the kind described not by placing the ink directly in the ink fountain to form an open pool of ink situated on one side of the first inking roller as in the past but rather by supplying the ink in a container which is adapted to be removably mounted on the machine, and also in the provision, as either a fixed or a readily removable part of the machine, of means for applying pressure to the ink in such a container whereby it may gradually be expelled from the latter and metered on to an inking roller of the machine.

Thus, viewed from a first aspect, the invention provides a container adapted to be removably mounted on a machine of the kind described in the ink fountain thereof and either containing or adapted to contain a supply of printing ink for application to an inking roller, such container having an elongate lip adapted to define, in use, an ink metering gap between itself and the surface of such inking roller, and one or more ink outlet openings in a wall of the container, the container being provided with or being adapted to cooperate with means for enabling pressure to be applied to said ink to expel the same from the container in use via said outlet opening or openings on to the roller surface upstream of the said ink metering gap.

The use of such an ink container has two primary advantages over previous arrangements in which, as already mentioned, the ink supply was in the form of a pool of ink contained in the ink fountain of the machine. Thus, 'firstly, the container may be made easily mountable on and removable from a machine without an operator having to handle any components which may be fouled with ink. Secondly the con tainer may be so constructed that, whilst it is in use on a machine, the ink both in the container and in transit between the same and an adjacent inking roller is maintained substantially out of contact with the atmosphere; as a result the container may be left in position on the machine for a period which will only, in practice, be limited by the periodic necessity to clean the inking rollers of the machine, and the need for daily cleaning of the machine is avoided. Further, pressurized feeding of the ink on to the associated inking roller results in an adequate supply of ink over the whole length of the roller even if, as is often the case in practice, the ink take up from the roller varies substantially along its length. Moreover wastage of ink is almost entirely avoided as virtually the whole quantity of ink supplied will be used up; daily removal of ink from the ink fountain, on the other hand, leads to considerably wastage.

In accordance with an important preferred feature of the invention, the container will be of a disposable nature, i.e. constructed cheaply enough to enable it to be thrown away when empty. Thus the container may, for example, be formed of plastics material, strong card of a nature impermeable to printing ink, lightweight sheet metal, or a combination of such materials; preferably, however, it will be moulded from a suitable synthetic plastics material.

In a preferred form of the invention the container is of elongate boxlike construction having the said ink outlet or outlets extending along a longitudinal wall thereof which will lie adjacent an associated inking roller in use. Preferably such outlet wall is substantially flat and has the said lip of the container extending from one side thereof over substantially its whole length in such manner that the angle included between the wall and such lip is an obtuse angle, e.g. between and Thus the face of such a preferred container which lies adjacent an associated inking roller in use will be an elongate face of obtuse-angled shape in cross section having one part thereof (the upstream" part in use) constituted by the said apertured outlet wall of the container and the other part (the downstream" part) constituted by the said lip thereof. In use both the edge of the said lip and the apertured area of the wall will lie closely adjacent the surface of the roller but will be spaced from one another by an internal elongate well of substantially triangular cross section which will become filled with ink during operation.

The printing ink itself may, as in a preferred form of the invention, be contained directly within the said container as supplied for use in the sense that the ink is in direct contact with the inside surfaces of the container walls. Alternatively, however, the ink could be housed in an inner container within the container proper as supplied for use, e.g. in the form of an inner flexible sac of rubber or plastics material which can be squeezed to expel the ink therefrom. In another form of the invention the container as supplied for use need not contain any ink; thus an inner container filled with ink could be supplied separately, such inner container being formed with its own outlet opening or openings arranged to be aligned with those of the main container when the inner container is inserted therein. In yet another form of the invention, which will be referred to in more detail below, an ink container may be provided as an integral part'of a machine of the kind described and be adapted to receive such a separately supplied inner container filled with ink.

When the container is supplied to the user filled with ink the said outlet or outlets therefrom will of course be closed, for example by a strip of plastics sheet material, ink-impermeable paper or metal foil which may easily be stripped away when the container is to be used. It is preferable that such closure strip, or some other equivalent strip, should be replaced in position to close the outlet or outlets when a container is removed from a machine whilst still partly full of ink, so as to prevent contact between the ink and the atmosphere via the container outlet or outlets. Such replacement of the closure strip may most conveniently be effected before the container is removed from the machine, by feeding such strip into the space between the container and its associated inking roller; the container may then be removed without the danger of ink being simultaneously dragged from its outlet or outlets by adhesion between the ink and the inking roller.

The said means for applying pressure to the ink to expel same from the container in use may take any of a number of forms. Thus it could comprise inflatable means adapted to apply pressure to an ink sac of the kind previously mentioned. Preferably, however, it comprises means movable within the container.

Where the said pressure applying means takes the form of means movable within the container, and referring firstly to the manner of its provision, such movable means can either be mounted within the container as supplied for use and be adapted to be operated by means on the machine arranged to apply pressure thereto, or it can be mounted separately from the container, i.e. on the machine itself, and be adapted to be received in the container during operation; in the latter case the movable means could be an integral part of the machine or it could be associated with a mounting device for the container which device is readily removable from the machine. So far as the actual form of such movable means is concerned it could, for example, if the ink in the container were to be housed in a flexible bag as aforementioned, comprise a roller movable transversely of its length so as gradually to roll over such bag in operation and thus squeeze the ink therefrom. Preferably, however, the said movable means comprises a plunger slidable in the container; clearly such a plunger could be employed to squeeze a flexible bag of ink or to act directly 0.1 ink which is housed directly within the container proper or within a separately supplied inner container.

When such movable means is mounted in the ink container as supplied for use it must, of course, be accessible to operating means therefor when the container is mounted on a machine of the kind described. In a preferred form of the invention where such movable means comprises a plunger the latter is made wholly accessible in that it constitutes the whole of one movable wall of the container; alternatively it could lie immediately within a fixed wall of the container formed with apertures for the insertion of suitable pusher means. When the said plunger forms a movable wall of the container the latter may conveniently be filled with ink via the opening which is subsequently closed by the plunger; alternatively, if desired, another wall of the container may be constituted by a separate wall member which is applied and fixed in position after the container has been filled. In any event that wall of the container which is constituted by the said plunger or which is apertured to render the latter accessible will preferably be covered by a removable or frangible sealing strip in the condition in which the container is supplied to a user.

The wall of the container which includes the said outlet or outlets for the egress of ink, and which will thus lie adjacent an associated inking roller in use, will preferably be furnished with means for maintaining such wall slightly spaced from the said roller in operation. Such spacer means may, for example, comprise ridges of arcuate outline raised from the surface of such wall and adapted to engage with the curved surface of the roller. Very conveniently such ridges may be situated one at each end of the wall, outwardly of the ink outlet or outlets therein, and at least a part of each ridge may be arranged to slope inwardly in the downstream direction relative to the flow of ink so that the ridges act as end barriers preventing the transverse flow of ink beyond them towards the ends of the roller and at the same time directing such ink inwardly and thus defining the extent of the ink coating lengthwise of the roller in operation.

It is preferred that the said lip of the container should either beflexible in itself or be flexibly mounted so as to enable the width of the ink metering gap between such lip and an associated inking roller to be accurately adjusted in operation; where the ink container, including such lip, is formed of plastics material the lip will generally be sufficiently flexible in itself and such adjustment may then conveniently be carried out by providing the mounting means for the container with an adjustable blade equivalent to the ink metering blade which, in known machines of the kind described, forms one wall of the ink trough previously referred to herein. Alternatively, however, the lip may be formed of metal and the aforementioned screws provided on known machines for adjusting the ink metering blade thereon may instead engage the lip of the ink container directly to enable its position to be adjusted; the formation of the said lip of metal in this way does not preclude the other parts of the ink container from being moulded from plastics material as such a metal blade could be moulded into the body of a plastlcs container. It is not, however. essential that the said lip should be either flexible in itself or flexibly mounted, as a container provided with an integral and substantially rigid lip could be mounted on a machine in such manner as to be adjustable as a whole relatively to an associated inking roller of the machine to vary the width of the ink metering gap; alternatively the position of the roller could be made adjustable.

As will be clear from the above description, many forms of container according to the invention are envisaged which are intended to be mounted in the ink fountain of a machine to feed ink to one of a plurality of conventional inking rollers already provided thereon. However, the container may in accordance with a further feature of the invention be provided with its own integral inking roller to replace one of those conventionally provided on the machine or to supplement them, such roller being rotatably mounted on the container adjacent the said lip of the container to define an ink metering gap with such lip in use, said roller being adapted to cooperate with roller driving means when the container is mounted on a machine. Such roller may very conveniently, like the container itself, be of a disposable nature. Clearly the provision of such a disposable inking roller will further reduce the time spent on cleaning the machine. Removal of the first of the conventional inking rollers from machines of the kind described, to permit the reception of a roller provided with the said container, is quite a simple procedure.

As previously mentioned an ink container adapted to receive an inner container filled with ink could be provided as an integral part of a machine of the kind described. Thus. viewed from another aspect, the invention provides a machine of the kind described having a container mounted thereon adjacent an inking roller thereof and adapted to contain a separately housed supply of printing ink for application to such roller, such container having anelongate lip defining an ink metering gap between itself and the surface ofsuch inking roller, one or more ink outlet openings in a wall of the container, and means for pressurizing ink in the container in operation to expel ink from the container via said outlet opening or openings on to the roller surface upstream of the said ink metering gap. It should be understood that the said pressurizing means can comprise a plunger provided as a permanent part of the said machine to act on the ink in a separate inner container to be mounted within the first mentioned container in operation, or can alternatively simply comprise pusher means adapted to act on a plunger provided separately in combination with such a separate inner ink container.

Where, on the other hand, an ink container of the kind previously referred to is provided as a separate element for mounting on a machine of the kind described, the mounting means for such container on the machine can be an integral or a removable part thereof. Thus, when such mounting means forms an integral part of the machine the invention, viewed from a further aspect, provides a machine of the kind described having means thereon adapted to mount and support an ink container of the kind referred to above as being in accordance with a first aspect of the invention adjacent an inking roller of the machine so that either the said lip ofthe container defines an ink metering gap between itself and the surface of said inking roller, or when said container is provided with its own inking roller such roller will engage with an inking roller on the machine, such machine also including means for pressurizing the ink in such a container in operation to expel ink therefrom via the said outlet opening or openings thereof on to the surface of the associated inking roller upstream of the said ink metering gap. Here again the said pressurizing means can include a plunger or roller provided as a permanent part of the said machine to act directly on the ink in the said container or in a separate inner container to be mounted within the first mentioned container in operation, or can alternatively simply comprise pusher means adapted to act on a plunger or roller provided in conjunction with such first mentioned or inner container.

Where the said mounting means for the ink container is provided as a separate element mountable on and easily removable from a machine of the kind described the invention, viewed from yet another aspect, provides a device for mounting and supporting an ink container of the kind previously referred as being in accordance with a first aspect of the invention on a machine of the kind described, such device being itself adapted to be mounted on such a machine adjacent an inking roller thereof in such manner that a container mounted and supported thereby will either lie adjacent said roller with the said lip of the container defining an ink metering gap between itself and the surface of such roller, or when said container is provided with its own inking roller such roller will engage with an inking roller on the machine, said device including means for pressurizing the ink in such a container in operation to expel ink therefrom via the said outlet opening or openings thereof on to the surface of the associated inking roller upstream of the said ink metering gap. Here again the said pressurizing means can include a plunger on roller provided as a permanent part of the mounting'and supporting device to act directly on the ink in the said container or in a separate inner container to be mounted within the first mentioned container in operation, or can alternatively simply comprise pusher means adapted to act on a plunger or roller provided in conjunction with such first mentioned or inner container.

A preferred device according to the invention for mounting and supporting an ink container on a machine comprises a boxlike housing which is removably mountable on the ends of the shaft carrying the inking roller of the machine with which roller the said lip of the container is to cooperate. Such housing carries an adjustable blade positioned to engage the back of the aforementioned lip of an ink container when the latter is mounted in the housing, so as to enable the width of the ink metering gap defined between the said lip and the associated inking roller to be adjusted at various points along its length.

Conveniently the device may include spring means for driving the said plunger or pusher means inwardly of the said housing. 1

In one embodiment the said spring driving means comprises a helical spring motor, the spring of which is arranged to rotate a shaft carrying at least one pinion meshing with a rack connected to said plunger or pusher means.

Means are also preferably associated with the said plunger or pusher means for facilitating the ejection from the device of an empty or partially exhausted ink container without the operator having to handle any parts which may be fouled with ink.

In order that the invention may be more readily understood two embodiments of an ink container according to the invention, together with an embodiment of a mounting and supporting device therefor also in accordance with the invention, will now be described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a front elevation of a first embodiment of an ink container;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation thereof as seen from the top of FIG. 1, partly broken away to show the interior;

FIG. 3 is an end elevation thereof as seen from the left of FIG. 1, again partly broken away;

FIGS. 4 to 6 are views similar to FIGS. 1 to 3 but of a second embodiment of an ink container;

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating the arrangement of the rollers in a typical offset lithographic duplicating machine and also indicating the preferred position on such machine of themounting device for a container according to the invention;

FIG. 8 is a plan view, partly in section, of such a mounting device;

FIG. 9 is a cross section on the line IX-IX of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a cross section on the line X-X of FIG. 8;

FIG. 11 is an end elevation of the mounting device as seen from the right of FIG. 8; and

FIGS. 12 and 13 are sectional views illustrating two respective positions of a mechanism in the mounting device for ejecting a container therefrom.

It will be observed that all of FIGS. 8 to l0, l2 and 13 show a container in position in the mounting device therefor, this container being indicated at C and being of the kind illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 3.

Referring to the first embodiment of a container according to the invention, with particular reference to FIGS. 1 to 3, such container is moulded from a suitable synthetic plastics material and is of elongate boxlike fon'n having front and rear side walls 1 and 2, end walls 3 and 4, and an outlet wall 5.

The outlet wall 5 of the container is formed with four ink outlets 6 and has a somewhat flexible lip 7 extending from one side edge of the wall so as to form an obtuse angler: therewith (see FIG. 3)..A transverse ridge 8 of arcuate outline is formed at each end of the obtuse-angled surface defined by the wall 5 and lip 7, the curvature of such ridges being chosen to cause them to fit the curved surface of the first inking roller of a duplicating machine on which the container is to be mounted. Thus when the container is so mounted on a machine the ridges 8 will seat on the roller surface and so maintain both the wall 5 and the lip 7 of the container slightly spaced from such surface and separated by an elongate well 9 of substantially triangular cross section which will become filled with ink in use.

As may best be seen from FIG. 1 the ends 10 of the ridges 8 slope inwardly in what will be the direction of rotation of an associated inking roller in use so as to lead ink on such roller inwardly away from the ends thereof; it will thus be seen that the ridges 8 form barriers defining the degree of spread of the ink lengthwise of an associated inking roller, in addition to their function as spacers.

The container houses means for enabling pressure to be applied to ink therein in the form of a plunger 11 which is slidable in the container to and from the apertured outlet wall 5 thereof and is formed with sealing skirts 12 on all four sides which engage sealingly with the walls 1 to 4 of the container. Such plunger is thus movable in the container to expel ink therein out through the outlets 6 in the outlet wall 5.

In this embodiment the container according to the invention is one which .will be supplied to a user already filled with printing ink. A sealing strip of plastics sheet, ink-impermeable paper, or metal foil will be affixed to cover the whole of the outer surface of the wall 5 in the filled container as supplied for use, thus closing the outlets 6. A similar sealing strip may be provided at the open side of the container covering the rear face of the plunger 11 and the surrounding wall edges. Both such sealing strips will be such as to be easily removable before the container is mounted on a duplicating machine; or the strip closing the open side of the container may alternatively be made frangible by being formed with a central longitudinal series of perforations.

Referring now to the second embodiment of an ink container, illustrated in FIGS. 4 to 6, such container is similar in many respects to that of FIGS. 1 to 3 and those parts of the container which are common to both embodiments are given the same reference numerals in FIGS. 4 to 6 and will not be described again. The container of FIGS. 4 to 6 differs in that it is provided with its own inking roller 101 to take the place of the first inking roller of a duplicating or other machine with which roller the container of FIGS. 1 to 3 is intended to cooperate. The roller 101 is freely rotatably mounted in a pair of annular bearing ears 102 integral with the container body. and is formed at one end with a dog 103 to enable it to be driven in rotation by the means conventionally provided on the machine for driving the first inking roller thereof. As in the container of FIGS. 1 to 3, arcuate ridges with inwardly sloping ends (not visible in FIGS. 4 to 6) will be formed at the respective ends of the outlet wall 5 behind the roller 101 as barriers delimiting the spread of ink lengthwise of the roller. Like the body of the container, the roller is of a disposable nature and is preferably formed as a metal tube with pressed in ends.

It will be appreciated that the provision of the container with its own disposable inking roller further reduces the time which must periodically be spent on cleaning the inking rollers of a machine. A further advantage of such arrangement lies in the fact that the relative alignment of the roller 101 and the lip 7 of the container may be strictly controlled during assembly, thus avoiding any difficulties that might conceivably be experienced in satisfactorily aligning the lip of the container of FIGS. 1 to 3 with an inking roller forming part of a machine.

One form of mounting device for positioning either of the above described containers on a duplicating machine will now be described with reference to FIGS. 7 to 13. It is assumed in such description that a container as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 is being employed, and references to the first inking roller 13 on an associated machine should be read as applying equally to the roller 101 of the container of FIGS. 4 t 6 to appreciate the alternative use of the latter.

Referring first to FIG. 7 the mounting device, here indicated at M, is adapted to be mounted adjacent a first inking roller 13 of a duplicating machine so that ink is supplied to such roller from the mounted container and thence via intermediate inking rollers to an image plate or sheet 14 on a master cylinder 1 i, the ink being mixed en route with water supplied via further rollers from a water bath 16. The ink image is transferred from the image plate or sheet to a blanket roller 17 and thence to paper 18 to form the duplicate; 19 is an impression cylinder.

Referring now to FIGS. 8 to 11 the container mounting device is of metal construction and comprises a boxlike housing having a front wall 20, a rear wall 21 and end walls 22 and 23, the housing being open at its top and bottom. Extension ears 24 of the end walls 22 and 23 of the housing are formed to be engaged on the respective ends of a shaft 25 carrying the first inking roller 13 of a duplicating machine (see FIGS. 8, and 11) so as to permit such roller to rotate relatively to the mounting device.

The rear wall 21 of the housing has a blade 49 (see FIG. 10) clamped thereto within the housing by means of a plate 53 which also acts as a backing plate for the ink container; such blade extends the whole length of the wall 21 and is acted upon in known manner by a series of adjusting screws 50 mounted in such rear wall, 12 such screws being provided in this particular embodiment. The blade 49 engages the rear face of the lip 7 of the ink container, whereby the width of the ink metering gap between the latter and the surface of inking roller 13 may be adjusted as desired by means of the screws 50.

At the top of the housing is a frame comprising blocks 26 and 27 extending across the same and a back web 28 interconnecting such blocks. Each of the blocks 26 and 27 has a rack 29 slidably mounted in a bore therein, which racks carry an elongate pusher plate 30 at their lower ends, which pusher plate is intended to engage with the plunger 11 of a container IS use.

In use of the apparatus the pusher plate 30 is continuously urged against the plunger 11 by means of a spring motor, so as to cause ink to be expelled from the container via the outlets 6 thereof.

The spring motor comprises a driving shaft 31 journaled in the blocks 26 and 27; toothed wheels 32 and 33, keyed on the shaft 31, engage respectively with the two racks 29. A helical spring 34 of the motor is wound partly on a sleeve 35 which is rotatably mounted on one end of the shaft 31 and is journaled in the end wall 23 of the housing, and partly on an extension sleeve 36 of the toothed wheel 33; one end of the spring is secured to a pin 37 fixed in the sleeve 35, and the other end of the spring is secured to a pin 38 fixed in the sleeve 36 and also passing through the shaft 31, as shown in FIG. 9.

A handle 39 for winding up the motor is keyed to the outer end of the sleeve 35. As shown in FIGS. 8 to 12 of the drawings the motor has just been fully wound up by rotating the handle 39 clockwise as seen in FIG. 11. The handle 39 carries a pawl 40 pivotally mounted at 41 and biassed in the clockwise sense, as seen in FIG. 11, by a spring 42. A cam disc 43 is keyed on the fixed journal 44 of the sleeve 35 adjacent and outwardly of the wall 23 of the housing, and has a notch in which a nose 45 of pawl 40 automatically engages when the motor is fully wound up, so as to prevent return movement of the handle. Release of the nose of the pawl from the notch in the cam disc may be effected when desired by squeezing a conveniently situated finger-plate 46 mounted on the pawl and simultaneously rotating the handle slightly in the winding up direction.

It will thus be understood that when the spring motor is wound up pressure is applied to the plunger 11 of a container mounted in the housing in the manner shown in the drawings, via the pusher plate 30.,lnk is thereby forced out of the container on to the inking roller 13 so long as the latter is rotating to carry the ink away, as the plunger moves gradually into the container under the influence of the pusher plate. It will also be observed that the ink both in the container and in transit between the latter and the roller 13 is maintained substantially out of contact with the atmosphere so that it will not dry up or be contaminated, even whilst the apparatus is not being used. As a result the container may be retained in position on a machine for a period which, as previously mentioned, is only limited by the periodic necessity to clean the inking rollers; the pressure on the ink will preferably be released when the machine is not in use. However, the container mounting device with a partly exhausted container mounted therein may be temporarily removed from the machine when desired, e.g. at the end of each day's work or at other times when the rollers are to be cleaned. If this is to be done the ink outlets 6 or the container will first be sealed off by feeding a strip of sheet material such as suitable ink-permeable paper or metal foil into the gap between such outlets and the inking roller l3; such strip will stick to the wall 5 of the container to seal the outlets 6 and the mounting device and container may then be lifted off the machine without ink being dragged from the outlets by adhesion to the roller 13 as would occur in the absence of such a sealing strip.

Means are provided in the mounting device for facilitating the removal of an exhausted container therefrom once the mounting device has been removed from the duplicating machine. Referring to FIGS. 8 to 13, such means comprise a pair of ejector pins 47 formed with heads 48 mounted for axial movement in respective pairs of lugs 50 and 51 extending rearwardly from the pusher plate 30, so that such ejector pins are movable in directions at right angles to the front and rear walls 20 and 21 of the container mounting device. Respective compression springs 52 engage between the lug 51 and a circlip 58 (FIG. 13) on each ejector pin so as to urge the latter towards the said front wall 20, the movement of the pins in that direction being limited by engagement of the said circlips 58 with the lugs 50. The ejector pins thus have normal inoperative positions relative to the pusher plate 30 as illustrated in FIGS. 9,10 and 12, and when they are in such positions relative to the pusher plate and the latter moves into the ink container in operation the heads 48 of the ejector pins travel just clear of the inside surface of the wall 2 of the container without positively engaging the latter. Means are provided for depressing the ejector pins against their springs 52 into operative positions thereof as illustrated in FIG. 13; such means comprise an operating bar 54 mounted outside of the wall 20 of the mounting device and having feet 55 (FIG. 9) which project inwardly through openings in such wall and are slidably mounted on respective pins 56 secured in the aforementioned web 28, such pins carrying compression springs 57 which bias the bar 54 against the wall 20. Upon depression against the springs 57 the bar 54 engages the ejector pins 47'to depress them against their springs 52 to their said operative positions.

The operation of the container ejector mechanism is as fol- The ejector pins are then depressed to their operative positions by means of their operating bar 54, which causes the heads 48 of the ejector pins to move beyond the plane of the wall 2 of the container (see FIG. 13). The pusher plate is now moved into the container again by rotation of the handle 39 so that the ejector pins engage the adjacent edge of the container will 2 and move the container with them; the heads 48 of the ejector pins are guided during such movement in undercut slots 59 in the backing plate 53 already mentioned so as to maintain the ejector pins in their depressed operative positions when they have moved beyond the influence of their operating bar 54. When the mechanism reaches the end of its container ejecting travel the heads of the ejector pins are automatically released from the slots 59 via enlargements 60 thereof so that the ejector pins return automatically to their inoperative positions relative to the pusher plate 30 under the influence of their springs 52. The container may now easily be removed from its mounting device without handling any inkfouled parts thereof. Movement of the handle 39 in the winding up direction during ejection is limited by engagement of the heel 61 of its pawl 40 with a stop 62 on the cam disc 43.

It will thus be seen that the above described container mounting and supporting device according to the invention provides an efficient means of mounting an ink container according to the invention on a duplicating machine, and of operating the same to expel ink in the desired manner, whilst enabling the container to be sealed and removed from the machine without difficulty when desired.

It will also be seen that ink containers according to the invention provide a cheap, efficient and clean means of applying printing ink to a machine of the kind described as and when desired, which avoids the need for daily cleaning of the machine with a consequent notable saving in operators time and trouble.

We claim:

1. An ink container adapted to be removably mounted on a printing device to supply ink to an inking roller comprising an elongate boxlike container adapted to contain a printing ink and defining outlet passage means communicating with said roller in one longitudinal wall thereof, a lip projecting from said longitudinal wall toward said inking roller but adapted to be spaced from the surface thereof to define an ink metering gap over the length of the roller, and a pair of spaced ridge elements having an arcuate profile corresponding to the curvature of said roller transverse to said lip near the opposite ends thereof whereby said longitudinal wall, said lip and said ridge members define an elongate well having a substantially triangular cross section adapted to contain ink supplied from said boxlike container for transfer to said roller.

2. A container according to claiml, which is of a disposable nature.

3. A container according to claim 2, which is formed of applying means comprises a plun e r slidable in the container.

. A container according to 0 arm 8, wherein said plunger constitutes a movable wall of the container.

10. A container according to claim 9, wherein said movable wall of the container forming said plunger is covered by a removable frangible sealing strip prior to use.

11. A container according to claim 7 which includes means to mount said container on a printing machine.

12. A container according to claim ll, wherein said means to mount said container includes a boxlike housing for the ink container, said housing carrying an adjustable blade positioned to engage the back of said lip when the latter is mounted in the housing to enable the width of the ink metering gap defined between the said lip and the associated inking roller to be adjusted at various points along its length.

13. A container according to claim 12, wherein the said ink pressurizing means includes a plunger provided as a permanent part of said housing to act directly on the ink in the said container in operation.

14. A container according to claim 12, wherein the said ink pressurizing means comprises pusher means adapted to act on a plunger provided in said container.

15. A container according to claim 14, including spring means for driving the said pusher means inwardly of the said housing.

16. A container according to claim 15, wherein said spring driving means comprises a helical spring motor.

17. A container according to claim 16, wherein the helical spring of said spring motor is arranged to-rotate a shaft carrying at least one pinion meshing with a rack connected to said plunger or pusher means.

18. A container according to claim 1, which includes an inking roller rotatably mounted thereon adjacent the said lip of the container to define an ink metering gap with said lip in use, said roller being adapted to cooperate with roller driving means when the container is mounted on a machine.

19. A container according to claim 18, wherein said roller is of a disposable nature.

20. A container according to claim 19, wherein said roller is formed of metal.

21. A container according to claim 1 wherein said boxlike container is adapted to contain ink in contact with the walls thereof.

22. A container according to claim I wherein at least a portion of each of said ridge elements are inclined inwardly toward each other to prevent transverse flow of ink past the ends of the roller and to direct the flow of ink inwardlyto coat the entire length of the roller with ink.

23. A container according to claim .I wherein said lip is formed of a flexible material to permit the width of the ink metering gap 'to be adjusted.

24. A container according to claim I wherein said lip is flexibly mounted on said longitudinal wall to permit the width of the ink metering gap to be adjusted. 

1. An ink container adapted to be removably mounted on a printing device to supply ink to an inking roller comprising an elongate boxlike container adapted to contain a printing ink and defining outlet passage means communicating with said roller in one longitudinal wall thereof, a lip projecting from said longitudinal wall toward said inking roller but adapted to be spaced from the surface thereof to define an ink metering gap over the length of the roller, and a pair of spaced ridge elements having an arcuate profile corresponding to the curvature of said roller transverse to said lip near the opposite ends thereof whereby said longitudinal wall, said lip and said ridge members define an elongate well having a substantially triangular cross section adapted to contain ink supplied from said boxlike container for transfer to said roller.
 2. A container according to claim 1, which is of a disposable nature.
 3. A container according to claim 2, which is formed of molded plastic.
 4. A container according to claim 1, wherein said longitudinal wall is substantially flat and has the said lip of the container extending from one side thereof over substantially its whole length whereby the angle included between the wall and said lip is an obtuse angle.
 5. A container according to claim 4, wherein said included angle is between 100* and 110*.
 6. A container according to claim 1, wherein the said ink outlet opening or openings in the container are closed by a strip of sheet material which may easily be stripped away when the container is to be used.
 7. A container according to claim 1, which is provided with means to exert a pressure on printing ink contained therein in operation to expel the ink from the container, said means being movable within the container.
 8. A container according to claim 7, wherein said pressure applying means comprises a plunger slidable in the container.
 9. A container according to claim 8, wherein said plunger constitutes a movable wall of the container.
 10. A container according to claim 9, wherein said movable wall of the container forming said plunger is covered by a removable frangible sealing strip prior to use.
 11. A container according to claim 7 which includes means to mount said container on a printing machine.
 12. A container according to claim 11, wherein said means to mount said container includes a boxlike housing for the ink container, said housing carrying an adjustable blade positioned to engage the back of said lip when the latter is mounted in the housing to enable the width of the ink metering gap defined between the said lip and the associated inking roller to be adjusted at various points along its length.
 13. A container according to claim 12, wherein the said ink pressurizing means includes a plunger provided as a permanent part of said housing to act directly on the ink in the said container in operation.
 14. A container according to claim 12, wherein the said ink pressurizing means comprises pusher means adapted to act on a plunger provided in said container.
 15. A container according to claim 14, including spring means for driving the said pusher means inwardly of the said housing.
 16. A container according to claim 15, wherein said spring driving means comprises a helical spring motor.
 17. A container according to claim 16, wherein the helical spring of said spring motor is arranged to rotate a shaft carrying at least one pinion meshing with a rack connected to said plunger or pusher means.
 18. A container according to claim 1, which includes an inking roller rotatably mounted thereon adjacent the said lip of the container to define an ink metering gap with said lip in use, said roller being adapted to cooperate with roller driving means when the container is mounted on a machine.
 19. A container according to claim 18, wherein said roller is of a disposable nature.
 20. A container according to claim 19, wherein said roller is formed of metal.
 21. A container according to claim 1 wherein said boxlike container is adapted to contain ink in contact with the walls thereof.
 22. A container according to claim 1 wherein at least a portion of each of said ridge elements are inclined inwardly toward each other to prevent transverse flow of ink past the ends of the roller and to direct the flow of ink inwardly to coat the entire length of the roller with ink.
 23. A container according to claim 1 wherein said lip is formed of a flexible material to permit the width of the ink metering gap to be adjusted.
 24. A container according to claim 1 wherein said lip is flexibly mounted on said longitudinal wall to permit the width of the ink metering gap to be adjusted. 